The invention relates to a device installed in a vehicle for recording information on the vehicle's itinerary.
In the unpublished patent application DE-P 43 10 099.6 of the applicant, a device for a utilization calculation system is proposed that is especially suited for calculating the charges for a road network that requires the payment of fees (e.g., calculating Autobahn tolls), This device is distinguished from other known calculation systems primarily by the fact that the charges are calculated practically exclusively within the vehicle itself and that no information about the toll roads taken by the vehicle leaves the vehicle. This is possible because each vehicle carries a calculation device that continually deducts the proper charge, based on the applicable tariff for the section of road just taken, from a credit balance, which is maintained on a mobile credit balance memory device (e.g., a chip card) and which has been purchased in advance by the driver at any desired payment point (e.g., an automatic chip card dispenser). For this purpose, tariff information is available from a memory unit of the device. In order to supply the calculation device with the information needed to identify the section of toll road just used, the device has a receiver system, with which information can be received from a satellite navigation system or a radio direction finding system, for example, which indicates the current geographical position of the vehicle or allows this position to be determined with the help of a computer unit of the device. Furthermore, the calculation device has a memory unit, in which geographical information concerning so-called "identification points" is stored, which allows the unambiguous identification of the individual toll segments of the road network. Via the receiver system, data are determined at short, regular intervals (e.g., every second) for the current geographical vehicle position at that moment with high accuracy (e.g., 100 m). If the determined position data are sufficiently close to consecutive identification points, it is possible to conclude from them that the associated toll road section has been traversed, and an appropriate deduction can automatically be made from the positive credit balance on the chip card. Although this device determines the geographical positions passed by the vehicle in a very accurate manner, the device is not meant or designed to store this type of position data permanently.
In FR 26 12 319, a device installed in a vehicle is described that makes it possible to also record, along with vehicle-specific data (e.g., motor speed, fuel consumption), data that identify the route, on an exchangeable data carrier designed, for example, as a chip card, for the purpose of cost computation taking into account the intensity of the utilization of a vehicle. In this connection, only the possibility of recording the route travelled is mentioned. However, no suggestions are given for collecting and storing in a manner protected against overwriting data that allow a reliable statement to be made concerning the location at which the vehicle was located during a trip at a particular given time.
Data can already be stored on the exchangeable data memory device that identify the driver, so that these data can be entered by means of a data reading device. In addition, it is possible for the purposes of checking to enter additional data identifying the driver via a keyboard attached to the device, in order to prevent misuse of the data carrier by an unauthorized person. After calculation has been carried out, the recorded data can again be written over with the data of the next trip.
EP-A 0 508 405 describes a system for determining the position of a vehicle, which preferably is based on the use of a system for satellite navigation. In order to be able to record the daily travel performance of a commercial vehicle (e.g., a taxi) as accurately as possible and with the lowest possible device-related expense, this system calls for a simple device in each vehicle, which permits the reception of satellite signals and the storage of these data with associated time information in digital form on a chip card. For regular analysis, the recorded data can be read out from the chip card into a vehicle-external computer, which determines via an analysis program the vehicle position data computable from the satellite signals as well as the routes resulting therefrom and in this way determines the vehicle performance. Data recording protected against overwriting is not considered, nor is the recording of data that permit unambiguous identification of the driver.
EP-A 0 189 204 relates to a vehicle-internal device intended for a utility vehicle for recording essential operating parameters of vehicle use on a mobile storage medium, e.g., a chip card. This storage medium can be read into an external computer device, so that the recorded data are available for analysis for purposes of administration (e.g., cost calculation) or vehicle maintenance. Recording data protected against overwriting for unambiguous identification of the driver of the vehicle and of locations at which the vehicle was located at given points in time is not considered.
In EP-A 0 191 413, a trip recorder is proposed in which, analogous to the usual tachographic registration, routes taken and speeds are recorded on an electronic storage medium, which is designed as a mobile data card and into which data identifying the driver are entered. The collection of geographical positions of the vehicle is not foreseen. A printer unit integrated into the trip recorder allows the printing out of a tabular trip protocol with the work time data and route data of the driver.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,206, an electronic recording device for garbage collection vehicles is known, with which the particular location of the garbage collection vehicle as well as associated time information are stored when the garbage collection vehicle carries out a procedure for loading or unloading garbage. In order to determine the location, the vehicle is equipped with a device for receiving signals of a navigational transmitter (e.g., navigational satellite system). A write-protected recording of data that unambiguously identifies the driver, as well as of data that permits an exact identification of vehicle position at any given point in time for the purposes of traffic control, is not provided.
From DE 38 28 725 A1, a device for recording information on a vehicle's itinerary is known that is used as a navigational device for motor vehicles. For the purpose of determining current location, this device has a receiver system for the satellite navigation system (GPS). In addition, the device has a memory with digitalized maps and a data carrier--for example, in the form of a chip card (IC card)--for storing itinerary data. A computer unit determines the data of the route actually taken by the vehicle and stores this data on the data carrier; information about the travel time consumed can also be stored. In order to minimize the quantity of stored data, the device stores the identifying index numbers of individual maps (map numbers) and the routes contained therein (route numbers) as well as the so-called "junctions" (e.g., route branchings) only after these points have actually been passed by the vehicle. No information is recorded as long as the current values of map numbers and route numbers remain unchanged.
This known device serves only as a navigational aid for the vehicle driver and is meant to supply the driver with better and more informative data (e.g., in respect to the travel time remaining until destination) when he takes the same route again. This device is not intended for legal traffic monitoring tasks. No disclosures are made as to whether the data carrier for recording information on the vehicle's itinerary might perhaps not be installed permanently into the device, unlike the other components, but is rather arranged in easily exchangeable fashion.
Especially in the case of commercial transports, there is often the desire to collect information on the itinerary of a vehicle not only quantitatively (length) but also qualitatively (routing), in the form of a trip journal, and also to determine without any doubt who drove the vehicle. For example, for special transports of hazardous materials (e.g., the transport of radioactive material) very definite travel routes can be designated, from which no deviations are permitted. It is presently very expensive to provide proof of this, because doing so requires the use of appropriate monitoring personnel in each vehicle or even the use of escort vehicles.
On the other hand, there are geographical zones (e.g., protected drinking water areas) where vehicles with loads that are potentially hazardous to water (e.g., tanker trucks) are generally not permitted to travel. Until now, violations of such regulations could be detected only if noticed (by chance) by monitoring personnel working on the spot.
Furthermore, it should be noted that it is the operators of larger vehicle fleets (e.g., shipping companies) in particular who have an interest in directing and monitoring the economic utilization of their transport capacities (fleet management systems) as well as possible. Until now, in respect to the actual operation of vehicles, only the data provided by legally-required trip recorders for utility vehicles is available, which is recorded on tachograph charts. These do not permit the later reconstruction of the individual roads actually taken by the vehicle.